Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Ah. There's a name for what's happened in our country: inverted totalitarianism. I'm afraid Chris Hedges is right: It's Not Going to Be OK. I listen to the news and they keep talking about the market as if that is the heart of our world. It's not.

This is how Hedges describes inverted totalitarianism: "Inverted totalitarianism, unlike classical totalitarianism, does not revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader. It finds its expression in the anonymity of the corporate state. It purports to cherish democracy, patriotism and the Constitution while cynically manipulating internal levers to subvert and thwart democratic institutions. Political candidates are elected in popular votes by citizens, but they must raise staggering amounts of corporate funds to compete. They are beholden to armies of corporate lobbyists in Washington or state capitals who write the legislation. A corporate media controls nearly everything we read, watch or hear and imposes a bland uniformity of opinion or diverts us with trivia and celebrity gossip. In classical totalitarian regimes, such as Nazi fascism or Soviet communism, economics was subordinate to politics. “Under inverted totalitarianism the reverse is true,” Wolin writes. 'Economics dominates politics—and with that domination comes different forms of ruthlessness.'"

Sound familiar?

Don't mistake me: I am rooting for us, I am rooting for Obama. But they're doing too little. It is the structure that is the problem as well as the people holding up that structure.